Wireless devices, such as cellular phones and mobile Internet appliances, communicate with wireless communication networks via access nodes, such as base stations. The wireless communications between the wireless devices and the network occur using frequencies in the radio frequency (RF) band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Some communications, such as user voice and data communications, typically use a traffic channel, while control communications from the wireless network typically use a control channel.
Due to limited RF spectrum, access nodes may have a limited number of traffic channels to allocate to connected wireless devices. Thus, when a wireless device is no longer exchanging communications with the wireless access node, the network may release the traffic channel from the wireless device, so that the traffic channel may be allocated to other wireless devices. In some cases, the wireless device may continue to monitor the control channel after the traffic channel is released. Continuing to monitor the control channel allows another traffic channel to be allocated faster than if the wireless device stopped monitoring the control channel.
Overview
Systems and methods are disclosed herein for adjusting a control channel timer based on control communication traffic on a control channel. In a particular embodiment, a method provides exchanging data packets with a wireless communication network over a wireless traffic channel assigned to a wireless communication device by the wireless communication network. The method further provides monitoring control communications from the wireless communication network over a wireless control channel and adjusting a control channel timer that indicates a time period that the wireless communication device should continue to monitor the control communications based on a level of control communication traffic. The method further provides releasing the assigned traffic channel in response to the expiration of a dormancy timer, wherein the dormancy timer indicates when a wireless traffic channel in the wireless communication network that is assigned to the wireless communication device should be released. In response to the release of the traffic channel, the method provides starting the control channel timer. In response to the expiration of the control channel timer, the method provides stopping the monitoring of the control communication traffic from the wireless communication network.